In the News

Most Americans avoid making important end-of-life decisions, called Advance Care Planning, because the conversations can be uncomfortable and the paperwork can be confusing, Kaiser Health News reports. Rebecca Sudore, a geriatrician at the University of California-San Francisco, created prepareforyourcare.org, which provides step-by-step instructions and video stories to help people navigate the care they want at the end of their lives. She built the site in 2013 for families unsure how to broach sensitive questions. In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in May, she and other researchers found that the website — combined with the use of an “advance directive” form — prompted participants to plan ahead. Funding from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, California Health Care Foundation, Stupski Foundation, as well as the American Cancer Society, California Health Care Foundation, The Donaghue Foundation, John and Wauna Harman Foundation, National Institute on Aging, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, UCSF, and Veterans Health Services Research & Development.